Homes just feet away from landslide in Riverdale

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RIVERDALE, Utah - The hillside has crept so close to one Riverdale home, that neighbors aren’t sure what they’ll see when they wake up.

“I’m a light sleeper and so I hear things and go, ‘oh, what fell?’” said Dawn Bengar who lives just two homes down from the evacuated homes on the street.

The problem started last November when city officials and residents noticed the hillside had suddenly begun eroding and a rapid pace. Since then, over twenty feet of land has disappeared from people’s backyards and over the edge.

“I look out my back deck, and have a favorite telephone pole that they just cut the transformer off the top of last weekend,” Bengar said of the landmarks she keeps an eye on to see how quickly the erosion is occurring. “I have a favorite tree that I keep looking at.”

Geological experts say the hillside sat 28.8 feet from the nearest home back on March 7th. Now, that number has been cut all the way down to 5.4 feet as of June 7th.

“I think it will last another month or two,” said an optimistic Robert Austin. Austin walks his dog at a park just below the hillside.

“I think there’s a lot of people that come over here to check it out and see what’s going on.”